This application relates generally to data processing systems. More particularly, this application relates to systems and methods for displaying revenue-generating information such as advertisements and non-revenue-generating information such as content together online.
Online advertising has become increasingly popular as a way for advertisers to publicize information about goods and services to potential customers and clients. An advertiser can implement an advertising campaign using internet-accessible facilities of online providers such as Yahoo! Inc. The online provider serves to connect the advertiser with users accessing online resources such as search engines and news and information sites. Advertisements (“ads”) of the advertiser are provided to the users to inform and attract the attention of the users.
Some online providers provide a stream of content and other information on a web page. The web page may be accessed by users on devices such as desktop computers, portable computers such as laptops and handheld devices such as tablets and smartphones, or media devices such as televisions. The stream is presented on the web page as a sequence of items displayed, one item after another, for example, down the web page when viewed on the display of a device. In some cases, the stream may be updated with new content at the top or bottom of the page upon certain events, such as the elapse of a certain period of time, the scrolling of a mouse, or the click of a spacebar.
Advertising items, also referred to herein as “stream ads,” are inserted into the stream of content, supplementing the sequence of items. Stream ads may be formatted to visually match the surrounding stream of content so as to appear native to the stream. Alternatively, stream ads may be formatted to complement the surrounding stream of content so as to be more eye-catching.
Streams are becoming common in online presentation in part because they provide added flexibility for web site designers and advertisers. If a stream is not used to present data on a web page, the web page must have pre-defined sections. Only certain types of information, having specified sizes, shapes or content, can be presented in the pre-defined sections. A stream allows any number and size and shape of content to be included. A stream also lowers the cognitive load on the viewer when processing information associated with different items of content or advertisements by removing the cognitive overhead associated with switching to a different visual format or perspective.
It is desirable to manage the flow of content and advertisements in a stream in order to, in turn, manage the experience of users and advertisers who interact with the online provider. Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the disclosure set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.